Beginning Quail Questions

[HunterH]

Hi guys and gals, new here and was thinking about getting some quail in the near future!

My goals are some fresh eggs and some for the table for this spring, and just some good fun.

I don't really want to buy/make an incubator but I may if some other options fall through. I also don't really have the room inside to keep them in a brooder/incubator anyway but if I have to I can make it work.

I found someone that has 3 week old coturnix jumbo browns for $2 each that sounds like a great option for me.

Will I need any kind of brooder for 3 week old jumbo browns? The weather forecast for the next 10 days or so is 60-50 high/40-29 low.

I plan to make a pen from recycled lumber and 1/2" hardware cloth. Poop will fall on pinestraw on the ground which can be raked away and replaced. Solid, sloped roof with overhang, exposed 4 sides with a divider to make an enclosed hiding area with a door. Will this work for this weather/age quail or will they be cold? I guess I'd put pinestraw/clippings/pine shavings in there for warmth.

I want somewhere from 5-20 birds.

How many lbs of food would they eat per week? Will a stainless steel bowl with rocks be good for water?

I don't want to spend a whole lot beginning until I make sure this is going to stay a long term thing! I will buy high % protein food and take good care of them, but $$$ incubators and such aren't in the picture!

Any opinions? Any and everything you can tell me would be appreciated! They also have some 1 week and some due to hatch so it's not super important I get them this week but I wouldn't mind.

 

[HunterH]

Bump for any help! Gonna get about a dozen birds in a few days! Don't want the little guys to freeze!

 

[quailkids14]

Hello, not sure if I can be of any help, but we made an incubator out of a Styrofoam cooler only cost around $15-20. We bought a dozen georgia giant bobwhite quail eggs online from wadley farms for I think $15 may have been less than that. 9 of the 13 that they sent us are going to hatch this weekend. We made a brooder out of a Rubbermaid tote. It cost a total of about $20. That is pretty inexpensive I think. We are going to build a pen outside out of old scrap wood we have laying around. I hope that helped.

 

[Vallifarm]

Once they hit 4 weeks old they are pretty much fine outside fully feathered. I raise about 60 every 2 weeks hatching them out myself. The price you said is not bad at all. They will lay about an egg a day once they hit 7 weeks. They will not sit on their own eggs their own eggs either incubate or have a broody bantam hen. They grow out super fast from hatch to table I do 6.5 weeks. They will lay and lay and lay. Provide them with a few little pans with sand or shavings in them so they can dust. I put in diotamacious earth. It's really good for them.

 

[quailkids14]

I have georgia giant bobwhite quails and from the research I have done bobwhite don't start laying till about 6 months.

 

[HunterH]

Thanks guys, gonna finish the pen tomorrow and get them ASAP!

 

[Giveneratry]

I'm in Portland Or. so our temps this time of yr. are from 40-50's daytime to 30-40's at night and I put 4 week olds out and they do fine. I have em in a 3x8 pen thats about 3 ft off the ground. The pen itself is all 1/2 inch hardware cloth except for 3ft of the back which is solid.. It gets windy as all hell here so I do staple plastic on the sides and wrap a tarp around the bottom for the winter.. The water bowl will work till ya can get quart waterer or 2.. You can get a small feeder(one with the holes in the top) really cheap. I sit the feeder on top of old pizza box tops I get for free so what they peck out doesn't just go to waste on the ground and I swap the boxes out every few days.. I feed em a gamebird feed that has %30 protein and a 50 pound bag cost me $22 and last a few months. Thet are really easy to take care of and ya learn as ya go.. Good luck pardner

 

[HunterH]

I'm in Portland Or. so our temps this time of yr. are from 40-50's daytime to 30-40's at night and I put 4 week olds out and they do fine. I have em in a 3x8 pen thats about 3 ft off the ground. The pen itself is all 1/2 inch hardware cloth except for 3ft of the back which is solid.. It gets windy as all hell here so I do staple plastic on the sides and wrap a tarp around the bottom for the winter.. The water bowl will work till ya can get quart waterer or 2.. You can get a small feeder(one with the holes in the top) really cheap. I sit the feeder on top of old pizza box tops I get for free so what they peck out doesn't just go to waste on the ground and I swap the boxes out every few days.. I feed em a gamebird feed that has %30 protein and a 50 pound bag cost me $22 and last a few months. Thet are really easy to take care of and ya learn as ya go.. Good luck pardner

Thanks a bunch.